Watch TV on iPhone

Watching TV on iPhone is one of the most desirable features to have. The nice screen makes watching TV on the iPhone enjoyable and entertaining.

The iPhone is an ideal video player, and a live portable TV. There are many iPhone TV applications at the App Store that will turn the iPhone into a live portable TV using different methods.

One method is by watching live internet TV by streaming TV directly to your iPhone. This can be done with applications such as NetTV from the App Store.

Another method utilizes the power of your PC to feed live TV stream from your PC to your iPhone such as OrbLive.

A third method uses an iPhone TV tuner or a similar device to feed live cable TV stream to the iPhone. You can also use Slingplayer App for iPhone combined with Slingbox setup, which allows you to watch your live cable TV on iPhone.

All those methods require an internet connection via wifi, 3G or EDGE.

Internet TV on iPhone Only Using NetTV:

This method of watching live TV on iPhone is the least expensive. It is also the most efficient method. You basically install iPhone TV applications that allow you to browse through a list of live TV stations downloaded or streamed from the internet.

It is similar to watching streamed live TV on your Mac or PC. When you enter your internet address, the application starts receiving and buffering live stream from the internet to your iPhone.

The advantage of this method is that you can get really high quality feed directly to your iPhone and you are not restricted by other devices or hardware. Your iPhone is the only hardware required and nothing else.

The disadvantage is that many of the streaming apps for the iPhone will only work over wifi, which defeats the purpose of watching TV on the go. This restriction by AT&T can be solved by an iPhone Jailbreak process and running a program called 3GUnrestrictor, which fools the 3G/EDGE network into thinking it is wifi. This restriction on 3G network might be removed by AT&T due to many complaints from ATT customers.

Another disadvantage is that not all apps that stream TV on iPhone in the App Store are actually live. Many apps have recorded TV shows while other stations simply don't exist for live streaming.

There are several free and paid applications that allow you to watch TV on iPhone. NetTV is one of the best iPhone TV applications; It has a big list of TV channels that can be viewed by categories, or by countries. Other good apps are TVUPlayer, and Live.

iPhone TV Tuners:

There are two types of iPhone TV tuners. The japanese iPhone TV tuners were the first to come to the iPhone using the 1Sig TV signal in Japan. However, TV tuners and iPhone TV applications for North America became later available.

The TV tuners apps require an iPhone compatible TV tuner . They work by connecting a cable TV or an external video source to the TV tuner.

Then you can watch live TV on your computer and on your iPhone by installing an iPhone TV application.

When you have a supported TV tuner connected to a host PC, the TV tuner feeds all the TV stations received by the TV tuner to your iPhone over wifi, and possibly over 3G.

There are a couple of choices, one for the PC called Air TV, and one for the Mac called Eye TV. The Mac version is a much superior product than the PC app, as it turn the Mac into a fully functional DVR ( Digital Video Recorder).

Watch iPhone TV Using SlingPlayer:

This method of streaming live TV on iPhone, use a helper device called a SligBox that feeds the stream to the internet.

Then you can use an app for the iPhone called Slingplayer made by the same company to control the SlingBox and display your live TV on iPhone.

You can control your SlingBox from your iPhone. You can flip channels or even record or schedule a recording.

Internet TV on iPhone using ORBLive:

ORBLive is a cool app for the iPhone, that I use all the time to stream my favorite TV on iPhone from the internet. First, you have to register with ORB online. There is a one time fee of $10 to get full advantage of the service.

Once you are registered and the ORB application is installed on your PC, you can access your ORB page online. You can add any URL address of your internet streams to your favorites internet TV using the website.

You can set up a web cam, a TV tuner or any internet TV stream . ORB has a huge list of TV streams from all over the world, but you can add your own if you don’t find what you want.

Then you need to install ORBlive for the iPhone. When you log in to the app from your iPhone, you will access all your favorite internet TV streams, web cam, or TV tuner that you have already set up on your PC .

Your PC must be running all the time for you to be able to access your streams. Your PC works as a real time video converter and server. It receives the feed from the internet or locally from your webcam , video on your hard drive, or TV tuner and then converts it in real time into a format that the iPhone can read. Then it sends this feed to the iPhone over the internet.

When you run ORBLive app on the iPhone, you can access anything your PC feeds to the internet. Any format that you can watch on your PC becomes a possible stream that you can watch or view on your iPhone anywhere in the world.

ORB works over wifi, 3G and EDGE with no restrictions. You can adjust the quality of the feed based on the network speed you have in your area. I use ORB mainly to watch live TV on iPhone, but I can also watch any video, listen to music, or read documents that are stored on my PC or Mac. Read the complete details about OrbLive here.

Conclusion:

There are several methods of watching TV on iPhone. All methods work somehow similar. You feed your TV from your cable, TV tuner or the internet to your iPhone. By installing an iPhone TV application for the supported TV tuner or device on the iPhone, you can watch live Cable TV, internet TV or any video source on your iPhone.

With a TV tuner and ORB live or EyeTV, you must have a host PC that must be running all the time. With SlingBox, you can stream all your cable TV channels to your iPhone with no need for a computer but you need the Slingbox hardware. Moreover, with some applications from the App Store like NetTV, you can watch live internet TV on iPhone with no need for a PC or any other hardware.

I personally use ORBlive to accomplish my TV streams and it works beautifully. The TV tuner method with Air TV or EyeTV apps is also great if you have a compatible iPhone TV tuner.

However, I wouldn't invest in a SlingBox solution as it is expensive and the end result could be accomplished much cheaper with other methods. Of course, if you already have a SlingBox installed, then your best method is the SlingPlayer app for the iPhone.

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